“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application that takes the company’s existing mapping apps and extends them to new levels of interactivity with data-rich layered viewing modes,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.

“Apple’s ‘Interactive Map’ patent filing details a mapping program that enables users to dynamically adjust and view different ‘layers’ of content pulled from the Internet,” Campbell reports. “Examples include commuting, tourism and weather map layers, among others.”

Campbell reports, “According to the document, the map would be able to emphasize any surrounding features of a selected point of interest, which in many cases will be a user’s current position.”

Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.